Mary Anne Sadlier (31 December 1820—5 April 1903) was an Irish author. Sadlier published roughly twenty-three novels and numerous stories. She wrote for Irish immigrants in both the United States and Canada, encouraging them to attend mass and retain the Catholic faith. In so doing, Sadlier also addressed the related themes of anti-Catholicism, the

Irish Famine The Great Famine ( ga, an Gorta Mór ), also known within Ireland as the Great Hunger or simply the Famine and outside Ireland as the Irish Potato Famine, was a period of starvation and disease in Ireland from 1845 to 1852 that constituted a h ...

, emigration, and domestic work. Her writings and translations are often found under the name Mrs. J. Sadlier. Earlier in her career, from 1840 to 1845, some of her works were published under the name "Anne Flinders".

Life

Mary Anne Madden was born in Cootehill,

Co. Cavan County Cavan ( ; gle, Contae an Chabháin) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Ulster and is part of the Border Region. It is named after the town of Cavan and is based on the historic Gaelic territory of East Breffny (''Bréifne' ...

, Ireland 31 December 1820. Upon the death of her father, Francis, a merchant, Mary Madden emigrated to

Sainte-Marthe, Quebec Sainte-Marthe is a municipality located in the Vaudreuil-Soulanges Regional County Municipality of Quebec, Canada. The population as of the 2021 Canadian census was 1,014. The local economy is based almost exclusively on agriculture. History ...

in 1844, where she married publisher James Sadlier, also from Ireland, on 24 November 1846. Sadlier experienced her most productive literary period after her marriage.Meehan, Thomas. "Mary Anne Madden Sadlier." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 13. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 8 March 2019 While living in Canada, Sadlier published eighteen books—five novels, one collection of short stories, a religious

catechism A catechism (; from grc, κατηχέω, "to teach orally") is a summary or exposition of doctrine and serves as a learning introduction to the Sacraments traditionally used in catechesis, or Christian religious teaching of children and adult c ...

, and nine translations from the French—in addition to assorted magazine articles she contributed to the ''Pilot'' and ''American Celt'' free of charge. During her literary career, Sadlier published twenty-three novels, translated seventeen books from the French, wrote short stories and several plays. Sadlier apparently donated her articles out of sympathy with the nationalistic causes of Irish journals. During her stay in Montreal Sadlier also wrote two novels set in Ireland: ''Alice Riordan; the Blind Man's Daughter'' (1851) and ''New Lights; or, Life in Galway'' (1853). In ''New Lights'', Sadlier deals with the Irish Famine for the first time. The book proved one of her most popular, going through at least eight editions in fifty years. In this novel, Sadlier focuses a polemical attack on the Protestant practice of converting Irish peasants by promising them soup, but condemns peasant retaliation and violence. Sadlier published much of her work in the family's Catholic magazine, '' The Tablet''. In the early 1860s, the couple moved to New York City. The Sadliers' New York home became a hub of literary activity in the Catholic community, and she also enjoyed the company of Irish writers in the United States and Canada, including New York

Archbishop John Hughes John Joseph Hughes (June 24, 1797 – January 3, 1864) was a prelate of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. He was the fourth Bishop and first Archbishop of the Archdiocese of New York, serving between 1842 and his death in 1864. In ...

, editor

Orestes Brownson Orestes Augustus Brownson (September 16, 1803 – April 17, 1876) was an American intellectual and activist, preacher, labor organizer, and noted Catholic convert and writer. Brownson was a publicist, a career which spanned his affiliation with ...

and

Thomas D'Arcy McGee Thomas D'Arcy McGee (13 April 18257 April 1868) was an Irish-Canadian politician, Catholic spokesman, journalist, poet, and a Father of Canadian Confederation. The young McGee was an Irish Catholic who opposed British rule in Ireland, and w ...

. She held weekly salons in her Manhattan home, as well as her summer home on Far Rockaway on Long Island (James, 219). Sadlier's closest friend was D'Arcy McGee, a poet, Irish nationalist exile, and Canadian statesman known as one of the founding " Fathers of Confederation" who helped bring about Canada's independence. McGee and Sadlier shared an interest in a "national poetry" that would not only capture the spirit of a people, but inspire them to political and

national independence The right of a people to self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international law (commonly regarded as a ''jus cogens'' rule), binding, as such, on the United Nations as authoritative interpretation of the Charter's norms. It stat ...

. While McGee, as a man, could take part in

political rallies A political demonstration is an action by a mass group or collection of groups of people in favor of a political or other cause or people partaking in a protest against a cause of concern; it often consists of walking in a mass march formati ...

and organize Irish-American support for Home Rule, Sadlier, as a woman, directed her support for Irish independence into literature. McGee's biographer notes that Sadlier's success inspired him to write emigrant novels, and that he was planning a novel on this subject at the time of his death (Phelan, 285). McGee's controversial politics cost him his life in 1868, when an Irish-American radical assassinated him, and his death was "a crushing blow to Mrs. Sadlier and her husband, who were his enthusiastic friends" (Anna Sadlier, 332). Sadlier edited a collection of McGee's poetry in 1869 in tribute to his memory. In later years, she lost the copyright to all her earlier works, many of which remained in print. In 1902, she received a special blessing from Pope Leo XIII for her "illustrious service to the Catholic Church". Sadlier remained in New York for nine years before returning to Canada, where she died in 1903. One of Mary Anne's daughters, Anna Theresa Sadlier, also became a writer.

Selected works by Sadlier

*''Confessions of an apostate'' (1842) R.B. Seeley and W. Burnside, London; (1868) D. & J. Sadlier & Co. New York, Boston. *''The "field of honour ; or, "scenes in the nineteenth century"''(1844) W.H. Dalton, Cockspur Street, London *''Naboth the Jezreelite; and other poems'' (1844) Bath *''The Red Hand of Ulster; or, The Fortunes of Hugh O'Neill'' (1850) * ''Willy Burke; or, The Irish Orphan in America'' (1850) *''The Blakes and Flanagans, A Tale Illustrative of Irish Life in the United States'' (1855) *''The Confederate Chieftains: a Tale of the Irish Rebellion of 1641'' (1860) *''The Babbler; a drama for boys, in one act'' (1861) *''Bessy Conway; or, The Irish Girl in America'' (1861) *''Elinor Preston: or, Scenes at Home and Abroad'' (1861) *''The Pope's Niece, and Other Tales'' (1862) *''Old and New; or, Taste versus Fashion'' (1862) *''Confessions of an Apostate; or, Leaves from a Troubled Life'' (1864)) *''Con O'Regan; or, Emigrant Life in the New World'' (1864) *''Aunt Honor's Keepsake'' (1866) *''The Secret'' (a drama) (1873) *''The Young Lady's Reader'' (1882) *''The Old House By The Boyne'' (1888) *''Alissa Flecq'' (1894) *''New Stories'' (1900)

References

Sources

* ''Madden, Mary Anne'', pp. 153–153, in ''Dictionary of Nineteenth-Century Irish Women Poets'', Ann Elry Colman, Kenny's Bookshop, Galway, 1996. . * ''Catholic Novelists in Defense of Their Faith, 1829-1865'', Willard Thorp, Arno Press, pp. 98–110 * ''Lot's Wife in the Novels of Mary Anne Sadlier'', Janelle Peters,
Postscripts
', 5.2 (2009), pp. 185–204.

External links

* *
Notes on AuthorUPenn Online Books entryTalbot School of Theology entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sadlier, Mary Anne 1820 births 1903 deaths 19th-century Irish poets People from County Cavan Irish women poets Irish emigrants to Canada (before 1923) Roman Catholic writers American women writers Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada) Laetare Medal recipients Irish women novelists 19th-century Irish novelists 19th-century Irish women writers 19th-century Irish writers Irish emigrants to the United States (before 1923) American salon-holders